THE BIG ISSUE 10 – 23 JAN 2014 41
William McInnes’s latest
novel is the culmination
of a project begun
with late wife, Sarah
Watt. Following the
success of the pair’s
first collaboration,
Worse Things Happen
at Sea (2011), McInnes
has followed up
with a novel the pair
developed together. The Birdwatcher is
rather different from McInnes’ usual brand
of blokey Australian fiction. Though he
retains the trademark sense of humour,
McInnes displays a softer touch here that
shows a depth unseen in his previous five
books. The plot revolves around a colourful
cast of characters, but it is David, the
eponymous birdwatcher, and his birds who
form the centre of the book. A lonely man
with an obsession no one else understands,
David’s life is about to change and so is
everyone else’s. The Birdwatcher shows a
maturity in McInnes as a writer. His talent
is at its best when describing the minute
details of Australian life. His observations
about the links between past and present,
and about the nature of illness and learning
to live are surprisingly profound in places.
ANGIE ANDREWES
THE BIRDWATCHER
WILLIAM McINNES
***
Australia was slow to acknowledge AC/DC’s brilliance. Author Jesse Fink
cannily chalks this up to class prejudice, but since the penny dropped there’s
been a dozen-odd books devoted to these Scottish-born guns of hard rock.
This latest is well researched and crammed with quotes offering multiple
takes on the band’s talents, rise and musical relevance. Highlights include
passages celebrating unsung collaborators, a photo section and a slyly
enlightening appendix of AC/DC’s trademarked merchandise. But some
sections are list-like, information-dense rollcalls of anyone who spoke to
Fink or came within professional sniffing distance of the band. At times
the author’s own bluster threatens to drown out Malcolm Young’s power chords. And
while the title hints at personal insights, we learn little about the three siblings, who declined
inter views. AC/DC are kings of hedonistic bombast, but their signature sound is tight, stripped-
back and disciplined, nothing scattergun or flabby in its execution. A similar approach by Fink
would have delivered a more satisfying read. MEG MUNDELL
Occasionally a picture book is so sophisticated, so beautifully rendered,
that it deser ves to be appreciated by those well into the double-digits. The
Secret Lives of Princesses is such a book. Don’t let the name fool you, there
are no saccharine Disney damsels here but a selection of lesser-known
princesses unlikely to be found in typical fairytales. Like Eco Princess,
whose court consists of wild animals and whose hair is a veritable bird’s
nest; or singing sensation Princess Fa-Sol-La, who’s shaped like a double
bass and translates her annoyance into arias. Or how about Molly Coddle, a thoroughly spoilt
little miss who demands snow in the middle of summer? There’s no story as such, instead,
the book’s a cheeky field guide to princesses (with sidebars, diagrams and charts included).
Philippe Lechermeier’s text is archly funny while Rebecca Dautremer’s illustrations are
whimsical and gorgeous with their swathes of colour and delicacy of detail. THUY ON
THE YOUNGS: THE BROTHERS WHO BUILT AC/DC
JESSIE FINK
***
THE SECRET LIVES OF PRINCESSES PHILIPPE
LECHERMEIER AND REBECCA DAUTREMER
****
EVERY NOW AND then, publishers dig up old titles, polish them up and send them
out with spanking new dust jackets for inspection. It’s a canny move to introduce,
or reignite interest in, books that readers may have missed the first time around.
Penguin, for instance, has recently released what it describes as a new “collectable
series celebrating some of the finest books ever published in Australia”. It’s a bold
claim. Nonetheless the six books in the collection span quite a few decades: from
Henry Handel Richardson’s The Getting of Wisdom (1910), to Nam Le’s The Boat
(2008). (The other four titles are: Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Merry-Go-Round
in the Sea, The Harp in the South and Monkey Grip.) Aesthetically, they are easy
on the eye: the jackets feature a bold palette, finished with textured, debossed
covers and coloured edges. There are also 70 Text Classics now in print, with
plans for 10 more this year. Easily identified by bright yellow covers, the series has
been designed to “unearth some of the lost marvels of our literature” and spans
centuries. Each book is introduced by a contemporary writer. Andy Griffiths,
for instance, introduces Gerald Murnane’s A Lifetime on Clouds (1976); Simon
Caterson waxes lyrical on Fergus Hume’s The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886)
and Sonya Hartnett introduces Martin Boyd’s A Difficult Young Man (1955).
The collection is eclectic and a worthy exercise in preservation.
BOOKS
THUY ON > Books Editor